Innovative Influence

Contemporary CIOs have to wear different hats and play multiple roles in practicing situational leadership and make profound influence.

Change is inevitable, organizational change has become a practice within an organization, but too often changes are made as a reaction to outer impulses, crisis, and demands. This is the bureaucracy’s way of meeting the challenges. A digital transformation is achieved via dynamic Strategy-Execution-Change lifecycle management, though it is not all linear steps, but an iterative, ongoing and upgoing change continuum. 

What are digital CIO’s profiles and how to reboot IT to get digital ready and cultivate the culture of learning and innovating?

  Innovative Influence

Influential The digital CIO role is multifaceted. CIOs today need to have both business acumen and technology know-how; They have to understand the business drivers and speak in business terms; but also they need to know technology, how that technology relates to business drivers, and what is and is not possible. In short, CIOs have to have a leg in both worlds, be the business strategist and technological visionary to look further, and be the IT managers to dive into technical know-how, and deliver IT-enabled business solutions. Here are three traits of digital CIOs to improve IT leadership effectiveness and achieve IT management excellence.

Innovative CIO is one of the most sophisticated executive leadership roles in the business world today due to the disruptive nature of technology and the exponential growth of information. CIOs need to be Chief Information Officer, Chief Integration Officer, Chief Interaction Officer, Chief Improvement Officer, etc. But still, one of the most appropriate titles for CIOs is “Chief Innovation Officer,” because digitalization opens the new chapter of innovation. CIOs need to present entrepreneurial spirit, learn to think and lead innovatively, take calculated risks while nurturing contingencies, and growing great talent, etc. Here is the innovative CIO’s digital profile.

Inclusion Contemporary CIOs have to wear different hats and play multiple roles in practicing situational leadership. Innovation is the light all forward-looking organizations are pursuing, but people are still the weakest link for transforming IT from a support center to an innovation hub of the business. Thus, in order to become the “Chief Innovation Officer,” CIOs need to become the “Chief Inclusiveness Officer” first, for cultivating the culture of creativity, spotting innovators, creating success stories, and unleashing the collective potential to get digital ready.

Insight The digital CIO is the information steward at the enterprise today, however, data or information is means to the end, not the end itself; more importantly, the CIO needs to capture business & customer insight from the abundance of information in foreseeing the future of business and continuously driving operational excellence. Therefore, the CIO plays a crucial role as ‘Chief Insight Officer’ to provide data-based advice for business executive peers and corporate board.

Interaction CIOs play a significant leadership role to convey the technological vision and interact with internal business executives or boards. In order to bridge the gap between business talks and IT talks, they are responsible for making sure that IT meets the business requirements and works as an enabler. But what are the most effective ways for CIOs to communicate: Board presentation, governance meeting; IT briefing, portal or informal discussion?

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